Month: February 2019

Lerer, Lisa & Smith, Mitch. “Amy Klobuchar Enters 2020 Presidential Race.” The New York Times, 10 Feb. 2019,  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/10/us/politics/amy-klobuchar-president-2020.html

Taylor, Kate. “Elizabeth Warren Formally Announces 2020 Presidential Bid in Lawrence, Mass.” The New York Times, 9 Feb. 2019,  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/09/us/politics/elizabeth-warren-2020.html

Both articles are in regards of new candidates entering the 2020 Presidential race. Therefore the obvious structure is to introduce the basic information of the candidate, which is done in both articles, but in different ways. In the article about Amy Klobuchar, the main focus was on what she can bring to the table. She only recently reached national prominence as a result of her exchange with Brett M. Kavanaugh during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing (Lerer & Smith). Klobuchar is also a Democrat coming from the swing state Minnesota, but carries moderate Republican views that don’t align with liberal views. In contrast, the article about Elizabeth Warren has more of a focus on her capabilities and her chances at succeeding. She has already had national prominence, with notable political interactions enough to spark a tweet from President Trump upon mentioning her campaign. She comes from the blue state Massachusetts and holds liberal views. In comparison to Klobuchar, Warren already has a well established, which leaves room to go in more detail about Warren’s campaign. Klobuchar, who is relatively not as known, makes it more difficult to talk about her campaign prospects. That means there has to be some explaining about Klobuchar before any speculating.

There were biases that Gladstone discussed in both articles. The most prominent being the Commercial Bias. Both these articles are about a topic that is highly relevant and is new information. People want to find out about who they will be voting for in the upcoming election. So when new information about a new candidate, news medias are able to take that information to create news on it. Both articles also contained Visual Biases, like pictures, with the article on Klobochar having a video. It works well in that article, as it is a visual hook that can provide some much needed information about Klobuchar. Both articles had very similar images of each candidate smiling in the events of their announcements. This gives the reader the effect of a positive first impression, where they can associate a positive view on the respective candidates. There was also a Fairness Bias, where the authors of both articles mention both positive and negative aspects of each candidate. Taylor talks about how Warren is wants to establish herself as the champion of liberal policy, highlighting her positive aspects. Then Taylor continues to mention how Warren’s claim of having Native American ancestry may cause problems in her campaign. Lerer and Smith talk about how Klobuchar’s “Minnesota nice” politics can make her a strong candidate, then mentions that her office has the highest turnover in the Senate.

I can definitely find resonance with Postman’s view on news media because there is so much information that can be talked about, but that doesn’t mean all that information deserves air time. It is very likely that Klobuchar and Warren’s announcements to run for presidency fall into irrelevancy due to other factors. Maybe they don’t do much and don’t get much air time or another candidate is more prominent, therefore taking up most of the air time. Because news is limited to time, the amount of news they can talk about has to be important and relevant. As a result, news can’t properly portray many stories.

What strikes me about the Blue Feed Red Feed project is that information is skewed to cater to the viewer. This means that it is very unlikely for one side to see the same story from another view, which can leave out a lot of important information. One side will be less willing to believe the other side because everything they see will more often than not, support their view.

The Millennial image is generally met with negativity, being labeled as lazy, entitled or selfish. But maybe Millennials aren’t lazy, entitled or selfish and just want to be able to succeed like the previous generations. As the children of the prosperous Baby Boomers, Millennials face many criticisms that doubt their abilities. Having deviated from the conventional path into the job industry, Millennials are taking strives to make big changes in society. It brings up the question of what Millennials bring to the table. As of now, their image is in the spotlight for judgement and doesn’t seem to be doing to well.

The idea of Millennial entitlement is a rather accurate description for Millennials. In this time and age, anyone on the internet understands that they can find what they need almost instantly. And with Millennials as the first generation to adopt and embrace this technology, they are also the first to feel the effects the internet brings. That happens to be the feeling of instant gratification, which makes the user feel that whatever they want is what they will get. Time article writer, Joel Stein, writes this idea as “In the U.S., Millennials are the children of baby boomers, who are also known as the Me Generation, who then produced the Me Me Me Generation, whose selfishness technology has only exacerbated.” Millennials aren’t entitled because of their character. They are entitled be cause the environment they grew up in fosters narcissism. Unfortunately, a majority of them grew up unconsciously developing that trait and is now how other generations see them as.

On the flip side, Millennials are known to catalyze some much needed change, whether it be in their lives or in society. Millennials are adopting to the social and economic change. As a result, they are changing the way of how we’re suppose to “adult”. They’re in the constant loop of completing a task, moving on to the next one, completing another, then having to work on the next. This never ending cycle makes time limited and requires a lot of effort to maintain. Buzzfeed News reporter Anne Helen Petersen writes, “We hustle so hard that we’ve figured out how to avoid wasting time eating meals and are called entitled for asking for fair compensation and benefits like working remotely (so we can live in affordable cities), adequate health care, or 401(k)s (so we can theoretically stop working at some point before the day we die).” Millennials are working harder and sacrificing more only to end back at the situation they started in. Millennials are working a system their parents prospered in, but is no longer a working system. Because of that, Millennials are taking charge to make things work in their favor. It’s that needed change that is causing so much disruption in industries Millennials are moving into.

I can see myself in the negative representation of a Millennial. I can admit that sometimes I feel entitled to certain things, but not without working towards it first. As Stein mentions at the beginning of the article, “I am about to do what old people have done throughout history: call those younger than me lazy, entitled, selfish and shallow.” The younger generation is generally looked down upon because they haven’t shown their capabilities yet. And when they see the older generation having it better than them, it makes sense to feel that they should have similar success of the past generation. That doesn’t justify being entitled to everything, but I feel there are some aspects that made the older generation capable of prospering better than the younger generation.

I wouldn’t say I’m not a Millennial, but I wouldn’t say I am a Millennial. I say this because there are aspects of a Millennial that I can relate to, like trying to get through the day efficiently. Because of that, I see their logic in Petersen’s statement of, “We’ve exchanged sit-down casual dining (Applebee’s, TGI Fridays) for fast casual (Chipotle et al.) because if we’re gonna pay for something, it should either be an experience worth waiting in line for (Cronuts! World-famous BBQ! Momofuku!) or efficient as hell.” The shift to fast casual from sit-down casual is a statement to Millennials wanting to make use of their current resources, which is something I try to do. On the other hand, I don’t really relate to the self-image heavy tendencies that results in excessive social media usage or inflated self image. It not that I’m completely free of those aspects, but I just don’t see myself defined by them.